Powerful “super-magnets” found in adult desk toys and other novelty items still trigger many emergency-room visits after children swallow them, according to a new report, even though some products with these magnets have been recalled.

“These ingestions have increased over the past three to five years,” said study researcher Dr. Daniel Rosenfield, a paediatric resident at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children, in Canada.

These neodymium-iron-boron magnets became popular about that time, sold in toys, jewellery and other novelty items, including desk toys used for fun and stress relief by adults. These desk toys include magnetic marbles and magnetic sculpting balls.